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Joey
OKC
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Posts: 3
(8/27/01 11:04:54
pm)
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How much are bow
rehairs in your area?
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------- Joey Guevara- OKC JOEYGUEV01@yahoo.com |
DWThomas
Registered User
Posts: 399
(8/28/01 7:47:03 am)
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Re: How much are
bow rehairs in your area?
Well, mine just cost me $120.
But that was because my wife
came along when I picked it up and I had to buy dinner on the way
back. 
The
actual charge was $45 for the rehair. But I was warned in advance
that "on a first rehair, we sometimes have to carve out the
mortises."
Which of course, "we" did, and that was another
$15. Obviously if I go back there again, he won't be able to do
that. I have no idea if that's a general practice.
The guy is
in Reading, PA, does instrument repairs and restorations and claims
to have clients from the Philly Orchestra. I did not price shop, as
I wanted to check out what the guy has in instruments.
It's
way better than it was when it went in, the original hair had some
weird little kinks that could actually be heard when playing softly.
I trimmed out the worst of them, but I decided a rehair was the
cheapest improvement I could buy myself.
-Dave (who's
beginning to need a rehair himself...)
Dave's
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 Steve
Drake
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Posts: 441
(8/28/01 11:38:08
am)
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Re: How much are
bow rehairs in your area?
The guy who does mine charges 35$, but it may be a discount rate,
as he's also a violist in my symphony and a friend.
And I've
never heard of having to carve out the mortises on a first rehair -
sounds like a shady way of gouging you for some extra money. It's
not a general practice, I can assure you. I wouldn't ever use that
person again, now that they've probably damaged your bow.
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ruthann
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Posts: 559
(8/28/01 12:11:02
pm)
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Re: How much are
bow rehairs in your area?
$35 is the going rate around here, too.
cello_suttonr@hotmail.com |
DWThomas
Registered User
Posts: 401
(8/28/01 12:14:24 pm)
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Re:
Damage
Thanks for the heads-up.
I doubt that it's damaged, it's
just that the ferrule and tip are in place when it goes in, and in
place when it comes out. Who's to know whether anything was done or
not. Based on my admittedly limited expertise (but I do have some
reputation as a craftsman in other areas) the finished result looked
good. A very even lay and far better looking hair than what was on
it.
The guy is well-marketed around area music schools, even
Penn State U, but I do have some reservations. When I mentioned
possible future interest in a new instrument, he asked who my
teacher was. He didn't recognize the name (perhaps
fortunately).
He then made a statement which I wish I could
quote verbatim, but I think I lost some subtleties (in the shock).
It was to the effect that teachers often get a commission and you
should go where your teacher recommends.
I almost read it
that he might not choose to sell to me! As though "well, she gets a
kickback from Joe in Philly so she'll find something wrong with
anything her student brings in from me. Therefore I'd be wasting my
time."
It might also imply that he assumes kickbacks are
common because he does it, a practice which I know has been dissed
thoroughly on these very boards.
I'll may still give him a
once-over for instruments, but living with Philly, New York, and
Baltimore/DC within two or three hours, I am certainly not a captive
consumer.
The bow was about $450 from Shar, so I wasn't
taking any huge risk there.
I will try and sound out some
independent opinions on area dealers in the next few months. I have
at least a say-hi-and-chat acquaintance with a few area teachers and
pro players.
(Maybe I can find one who'll split the kickback
with me
)
-Dave
Dave's
Bakery & Asylum |
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
Posts: 390
(8/29/01 8:37:44
am)
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Re: How much are
bow rehairs in your area?
I just paid $40 for a rehair, and increase of $5 since erlier in
the year, but a real bargain for the SF area, and esepecially
compared to $45 I paid elsewhere in the area about 4 years
ago.
There is (should be, anyway) more to a rehair than we
often get and than meets the eye (but, believe me, it does meet the
ear). There is an ideal amount of hair (for a given hair 'quality'
for each bow that depends mostly on its stiffness and camber. A
luthier should rehair accordingly - without asking you how you like
it.
From my own experience I find that hairing is not often
done this quantitatively. However, I hear stories of some luthiers
who do select the hair quantity with great pride according to
certain principles of their own - and others with such pride that
they ware insulted if you attempt to instruct them. Other stories
are of luthiers who re-rehaired a bow, because the original hair
quantity was not exactly right.
Andy
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samcn
Registered User
Posts: 20
(8/30/01 4:02:16 pm)
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less than
$30
My luthier in Boston area charged me that much..
I think
friendship and business should seperate as far as I told my
luthier..
|
Br
Martin
Registered
User
Posts: 39
(9/3/01 4:04:47
pm)
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bow rehairs
etc
Bow rehairing cost can vary for several reasons.
Where the shop
is located can cause one variation simply because it costs more to
rent space in New York than it does in Iowa. The second is the cost
of the hair.
There is quite a price range in bow hair, and it's
usually sold by the pound, or by individual precut hanks which cost
more. You can buy black hair, salt and pepper, unbleached Mongolian,
unbleached Siberian, Argentinian etc. All I know is that every
seller claims theirs is the best, and we learn by experience which
to get for what job.
I usually charge less for a fiberglass bow
than for a wood bow, because they're easier to do(if they haven't
been glued together with superglue) and I can use a good quality
hair, but not the very best since it's a school bow.
High quality
wood bows are actually the easiest to do because they're made the
best. However some of them can be extremely expensive and require
great patience and care.
Better student quality bows are
generally made pretty well, but the mortises sometimes aren't cut
right. And depending on who did the bow last, we might find
everything glued together instead of just fitted properly and a bow
rehair can turn into an absolute nightmare.
Some of the cheaper
bows are so poorly made that they are literally not worth
redoing.
Sometimes the wood plugs can be reused, but usually I
recarve them. The front and frog end plugs have 4 different angles
and have to have a space carved for the bow hair to fit under, and
they must be exactly snug and not too tight(might split the head or
frog), or too loose or they'll come out. They shouldn't be gluded,
but often are making the new rehair a real chore.
The wedge that
separates the hair in the frog is flat on the bottom, flat and then
sloped on top and carved to wedge the hair in properly. It gets one
drop of hyde glue.
The hair must be very clean and tied off
exactly at each end and combed out perfectly. It's really too
complicated of a process for me to be able to describe adequately to
you. I will say that if your bow rehair person every lets you try
this, that 99.9 percent of you will never want to do it again, and
you will most likely come away from the experience believing that
you'd charge a lot more if you had to do it. Over the years, I've
had several people come to me to learn bow rehairing and all of them
gave up and told me they had no idea it could be that difficult.
Every once in awhile someone comes along who seems to be born with
the gift, and they will often do the bows for several different
shops.
Hope this helps a little.
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